This post includes an explanation of the concept of Substitution in Coherence and Cohesion, a component of grammatical cohesion in discourse.
Substitution is a component of Grammatical Cohesion.
To begin with, let’s have a look at the Substitution in Coherence and Cohesion:
Definition of Substitution
Substitution occurs when an item is replaced by another item in the text to avoid repetition.
Types of Substitution
There are three types of substitution: nominal, verbal, and clausal.
Nominal substitution
It is substituting a noun or a nominal group with another noun.
Elements of this type are one, ones, and same.
In the following example, one substitutes car.
E.g. This car is old. I will buy a new one.
Try reading this book. That one’s not very good.
Verbal substitution
It involves substituting a verb or a verbal group with another verb.
The verb element used to replace items in this type is “do”.
E.g. I challenge you to win the game before I do!
Here, do is the substitution for “win the game”.
Clausal substitution
It is substituting clauses with “so” or “not”.
E.g. A: Do you think the teacher is going to be absent tomorrow?
B: No. I don’t think so.
In this example, “so” substitutes the clause “going to be absent”.
